Thousands crowd Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland in Anaheim. OC Health Care Agency is investigating 12 cases of Legionnaires’ disease among people who live in or visited the Anaheim area in September. Nine of the cases involve people visiting Disneyland, and one is a person who works at the resort. (File Photo by MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/SCNG)(File Photo by MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/SCNG)

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is in the process of appealing a citation from the state alleging the park failed to properly sanitize and maintain its cooling towers that tested positive for the presence of bacteria, which causes Legionnaire’s disease.

The Legionnaires’ outbreak in November sickened 22 people, of whom one died. Nineteen of those individuals had visited Disneyland in September or in early October. The person who died did not visit the park.

In March, the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued a citation based on investigations by its inspectors that the park did not take adequate steps to clean and maintain the cooling towers; failed to implement procedures to correct workplace hazards; and did not report two worker illnesses in a timely manner.

Both employees suffered Legionnaires’ disease and required hospitalization for more than 24 hours, the citation stated.

Cal/OSHA slapped Disney with a $33,000 penalty for the alleged violations.

Regulations

The park’s cooling towers were never directly linked to the outbreak.

Disney is contesting all of the above allegations by filing an appeal, and issued the following statement Thursday, Sept. 6:

“We strongly object to Cal OSHA’s allegation that our cooling towers caused any illness, since the source of the outbreak has never been scientifically determined.”

Spokeswoman Suzi Brown said Disney also reported worker illnesses as soon as they received the documented diagnosis and hospitalization records.

Park officials initially did not know the identities of the workers and had to wait to get that information and other records before reporting it to the state, she said.

The county’s Health Care Agency Environmental Health division did investigate other cooling towers in the area outside the resort for the bacteria and found no issues, said spokeswoman Jessica Good.

“Though it would not be possible to definitely link the cases to (Disney’s) cooling towers, the level of contamination and their location suggests that they are a potential source for some or all cases,” Good said.

Good said there are no current regulations regarding testing and treatment of cooling towers. Industry guidelines are provided by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, she said.

Legionnaires’ disease

Legionnaires’ disease is a respiratory illness which can be contracted from inhaling microscopic water droplets in mist or vapor. The Legionella bacterium thrives in fresh water, but indoors it can multiply in water systems such as hot tubs and air conditioners, according to the Mayo Clinic. It is not spread through person-to-person contact.

It could take between two to 10 days from the time of exposure for symptoms to surface. Symptoms might include diarrhea, high fever, cough, chest pain and shortness of breath.

After the Legionnaires’ outbreak was reported, Disneyland shut down its cooling towers and decontaminated them.

Cal/OSHA declined comment because of the pending appeal. A hearing has been scheduled before an appeals panel in West Covina Oct. 4.

However, that hearing might not happen if Disney enters into a settlement with Cal/OSHA between now and then.

Deepa Bharath covers religion for The Orange County Register and the Southern California Newspaper Group. Her work is focused on how religion, race and ethnicity shape our understanding of what it is to be American and how religion in particular helps influence public policies, laws and a region's culture. Deepa also writes about race, cultures and social justice issues. She has covered a number of other beats ranging from city government to breaking news for the Register since May 2006. She has received fellowships from the International Women's Media Foundation and the International Center for Journalists to report stories about reconciliation, counter-extremism and peace-building efforts around the world. When she is not working, she loves listening to Indian classical music and traveling with her husband and son.